Novogratz’s ‘Crypto-Bank’ Is Backing Everipedia’s Blockchain Pivot

Galaxy Digital, the crypto-asset merchant bank launched by former fund manager Mike Novogratz, has made its first major investment.

Everipedia, the decentralized offshoot of Wikipedia, announced Thursday that it had secured $30 million through an equity sale led by Galaxy Digital’s EOS.io Ecosystem Fund. The funding round was restricted to strategic investors, according to statements.

The startup plans to use the proceeds from this funding round to launch its peer-to-peer network, led in part by chief information officer and Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger.

Everipedia announced last year that it was moving to the EOS.io blockchain, with its newly-envisioned infrastructure being built on top of that network.

The company hopes to develop a censorship-proof system using smart contracts which record contributions while using a cryptocurrency token to reward its contributors, as CoinDesk previous reported. Sanger, who joined last December, said at the time that he joined the startup to be part of a system which is not controlled by a small number of individuals.

He said in a new statement:

“In the era of fake news and a general distrust in central entities like governments, corporations and the media the world stands to benefit enormously from a decentralized and uncensorable knowledge base.”

Galaxy Digital was announced and launched last month by Novogratz, who sees it as a full-service, digital assets bank, as previously reported by Coindesk. The company was set to launch a hedge fund supporting crypto-projects, but the move was reportedly canceled late last year.

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